Cushion



NOV. 7, 1933. Q Q MEUTSCH 1,933,816

CUSHION Filed NOV. 7. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l Patented Nov. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT orrice 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a cushion, mattress, pad or the like, and more particularly to a resilient cushion construction in which any tendency toward permanent deformation is prevented.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved form and construction of cushion or the like, the edges and corners of which will have a resilient strength at least equal to the resilient strength of the central part thereof so as to prevent said edges and more particularly said corners from becoming wrinkled and crushed down after prolonged use, as inevitably occurs in cushions, mattresses and the like as heretofore constructed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a diminutive fragmentary perspective of a spring filled cushion.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section through one corner thereof, taken on line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary, vertical section taken transversely of the auxiliary spring on line 33 of Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4. is a diminutive, fragmentary perspective of a modified cushion construction in which a pair of auxiliary springs are employed at the corner thereof.

Figure 5 is a horizontal section through another modfied form of cushion showing curled hair employed as a filling.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the auxiliary spring casings and showing its companion auxiliary spring arranged therein.

' Figure 7 is a diminutive perspective view of a mattress provided with rows of auxiliary springs along its two longitudinal edges.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective of an aux- .iliary spring used independently of an auxiliary spring casing secured directly to the cushion envelope.

In the following description, similar characters of reference indicate like parts of the several figures of the drawings.

My invention may be embodied in variousone continuous band or strip of material); and bottom wall 14. To render the'cushion neat and attractive in appearance a cord filled strip 15 containing a cord 16 is preferably sewed into the horizontal peripheral seams which lie between and join the top, and bottom walls 10 and 14 respectively with the band of material constituting the side and front walls 11, 12 and 13.

Located centrally in the cushion cover is a main resilient body 19 comprising a flexible, rectangular box shaped envelope 45 filled with a plurality of coiled metal springs 46, whichare secured at their ends to said envelope and to .each other and separated laterally from each other in a manner which forms no part of the '70 present invention. Said envelope. corresponds approximately to the shape of the cushion cover, but is smaller in all of its dimensions so as .to be inspaced relation to the inner surfaces of said cover both at its top and bottom and at all of its four sides.

To prevent the wires of the coiled springs 46 from showing through the cover (which would be unsightly) and also to make the surface of said cushion uniformly smooth and soft, cotton batting or other fine textured padding is preferably interposed between said main resilient body 19 and the. cushion cover, said padding being disposed as follows: Padding 17 is interposed between the upper face of said main resilient body 19 and the top wall 10 of the cushion cover;- padding 18 is interposed between the sides of said main resilient body and the front and side walls 11, 12 and 13 of said cushion cover;and padding 20 is interposed between the bottom face of said main resilient body and the bottom wall 14 of said cushion'cover. hese various paddings are customarily employed in present day high grade cushions but are not essential to the obtaining 01" the benefits of the present invention. [it the same time, however, the value and usefulnessof said invention is especially pronounced when such a padding is employed, as will be now explained.

The cushion as so far described constitutes a' .fOImi of cushion which is well known in the art and represents what is thought, at the present time, to be a very high grade of cushion construction. It will be noted, however, that, when avertical pressure is applied to the top wall 101% of the cover of such an ordinary cushion, such a pressure will be amply and strongly supported if the point of application lies within the rectangular area which is bounded by'a line joining the axes of all of the. outermost coiled springs 463.1 10

Any vertical pressure however which is applied outside of this rectangular area is necessarily counteracted by a lesser, irregular and almost wholly ineffective spring resistance and consequently the edges and corners of such a cushion are much softer than the central parts of the cushion, even if all of the springs are absolutely uniform as to length, modulus of elasticity, etc. This condition of affairs is still more greatly aggravated when cotton padding 18 is interposed between the outer part of the main resilient body 19 and the side and front walls 11, 12 and 13 of the cushion cover as is usually the case. Thisis due to the fact that, inasmuch as cotton padding under any circumstances, and by reason of its inherentnature, possesses very poor resilient qualities and is necessarily located at just that very portion of the cushion where the metal springs are able to offer no sufficient or effective resistance, it naturally follows that this padding becomes packed down when subjected to heavy pressure and is unable to return to its original shape when said external pressure is released, and thus becomes permanently deformed. The result is that, after such an ordinary cushion has been in use for some time, this packed down and deformed cotton padding inevitably causes more or less unsightly bulges at the sides or edges of the cushion and more especially a plurality of very unsightly wrinkles at the corners of said cushion.

These difliculties are entirely avoided in the present improved cushion construction because, in the latter the resilient strength at the edges and corners of said improved cushion is approximately equal to, or is more than equal to, the

-resilient strength at the central part of said a cushion. In this way, not only is the padding prevented entirely from becoming packed down when this improved cushion is used with reasonable care, but, even if it should become more or less packed down (due to excessive and unreasonable loads) nevertheless this improved cushion will still return to its normal position and will still retain its virgin smooth and neat appearance just as soon as this external pressure is released, by

reason of auxiliary resilient members or springs 25 which operate to resiliently and smoothly distend the corners of the cushion, irrespective of whether or not the padding remains sufficiently resilient to cause, by itself, said cushion corners to be properly distended when said external force is released. These auxiliary springs are arranged as follows:

A two ply sheath or casing 23 (see Fig. 6) comprising two rectangular and equal sized pieces of fabric are stitched together, as indicated by heavy dash line 24, this stitching being of such form as to enable said casing to snugly receive a companion M shaped, auxiliary resilient member or spring 25. The central turn or bend of the same is preferably coiled helically at 26 and its parallel ing 23' without digging into the fabric layers.

thereof. One of these casings 23, together with a companion auxiliary spring 25, constitutes what may be termed an auxiliary spring assembly, one or more of which may be sewed in place in either a new cushion, or in a cushion which has been in use some time without being equipped withsuch auxiliary spring assemblies.

In other words, as said auxiliary spring assembly constitutes the essence of the present invention, it may broadly be considered as applicable to any and all cushions, mattresses, pads and the like irrespective of Whether the same be new or old. In the present COIlSilllCtiOIl being considered (Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6) a pair of these auxiliary spring assemblies is sewed into place adjacent the forward end of and parallel to the side walls 11 and 12 of the cushion cover, the upper and lower portions of the casing 23 being preferably stitched at about the same line where the cushion side walls 11 and 12 are stitched to the top and bottom walls 10 and 14 respectively of said cushion cover (see particularly Fig. 3). This sewing is of course effected while said cushion cover is turned inside out. 4

Both of said casings 23 are stitched into place prior to the insertion therein of their companion auxiliary springs 25. In this way there is no likelihood of breaking the sewing machine needle during this operation. The auxiliary springs are then compressed and slipped into place into their companion casings 23 and a relatively thin layer of cotton batting or auxiliary padding 30 is pushed into the space between each of said casings and the adjacent portion of the side wall 11 or 12 (as the case may be) of the cushion cover. The function of this auxiliary padding is to conceal the outline of the auxiliary spring 25 and to make the outside edges of the cushion uniformly soft to the touch and neat and smooth in appearance. The entire cushion cover with its said auxiliary spring casings 23, auxiliary springs 25 and auxiliary padding 30 is then turned outside out and the main .resilient body 19, together with its outer paddings 1'7, 13 and 20, slipped into said cushion cover and the cover itself then sewed up (at its rear part) in the usual and well known manner. If, at any time in the future, one or more of said auxiliaryr springs 25 should become broken, or should it become desirable to replace one or more of the same by either heavier or lighter springs, this may be easily accomplished without in any way disturbing the stitching or sewing between any of the .120 casings 23 and the cushion cover. In such an event it is merely necessary to slip off said cover,-turn it inside out for convenience,remove the old auxiliary spring 25,-replace it by a new spring,- and reassemble the entire cushion again. A somewhat similar procedure is followed when it is desired to equip an old cushion with the present in vention, the cushion cover in such case being first removed and turned inside out,the desired number of casings 23 then sewed into place-auxiliaryqg springs I 25 slipped into each casing,and the cushion then reassembled as before. Where expense is avery important item, these casings 23 may be eliminated and the springs 25 sewed directly to the cushion cover.

It will be noticed that the pressure imposed upon each auxiliary spring 25 is borne by the parallel, horizontal thrust arms 27. If the pressure be exerted against the rear ends of said thrust arms 27 then the latter move angularly toward each other by resilientlyrotating about their respective curved forward bends 32. If, on the other hand, the external pressure bears against the forward end of said thrust arms 27, then the latter move angularly toward each other by resiliently. rotating about the helically coiled portion 26 of the auxiliary spring. External pressures exerted intermediately of the length of said thrust arms 27 will cause a simultaneous resilient rotation about both the bends 32 and-the coiled portion 26.

In this way each auxiliary spring is able to accommodate itself to whatever the nature of the imposed external force may happen to be.

The resilient strength of this particular type of auxiliary spring 25 is somewhat greater when the rotation is about the curled portion 26, and for this reason it is preferred to place the concave side of said M shaped auxiliary spring 25 toward the front end of the cushion, inasmuch as it is the front end of the latter which is ordinarily subjected to the severest stresses. This matter, however, depends entirely upon the particular use to which the cushion is to be put.

In the particular construction shown in the drawings, the coiled portion 26 of each auxiliary spring 25 is located some distance forwardly of the rear end of its companion casing 23. Because of this relationship and to permit said spring to flex freely about said coiled portion 26 as a theoretical pivot, the casing is slit at 33, thereby preventing any fabric tension from opposing this spring flexure.

In Fig. 4 is shown a cushion similar to that of Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6 but having a pair of auxiliary springs 25 at the cushion corners instead of only one. The general organization is, however, the same. This double corner spring construction is somewhat superior but is obviously also about twice as expensive. It is to be understood that the present invention contemplates the use of as many such auxiliary springs 25 as may be desired and in any location whatsoever along the periphery of the cushion, mattress, pad or whatever other similar resilient object may be advantageously so equipped (see Fig. '7)

In Fig. 5 is shown a cushion very similar to the cushion of Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6 but having its main resilient body 191 consisting of a mat of curled hair or the like in lieu of the main resilient body 19 previously described which consists of the coiled springs 46 and the envelope 45. This Figure 5 has been merely shown to indicate that the present invention is applicable to any kind of cushion, mattress, pad or the like, irrespective of what the main resilient body or filling material may happen to be, it being obvious that, in any ordinary cushion, mattress or the like, the edges and particularly the corners will in time become packed down, wrinkled and unsightly and that these objectionable features can be eliminated by the use of one or more auxiliary resilient bodies or springs 25 arranged in approximately the manner disclosed in the present patent application.

In a mattress (see Fig. 7) it is more important than in the case of a cushion that the entire longitudinal edge be permanently and resiliently sustained. For this reason the mattress 35 is equipped with a plurality of auxiliary springs 25 disposed along its two longitudinal edges. This construction permits a person to lie close to the edge of the bed without causing a tendency to roll over the edge and thus enables the full width of the mattress to be employed advantageously.

Fig. 8 illustrates another modification of the invention. In this construction the auxiliary spring casing 23 is entirely eliminated, and the auxiliary spring 251 is sewed by stitches 36 directly to the modified cushion envelope 451. This arrangement considerably reduces the cost of manufacture of the cushion and resiliently stiffens the peripheral edge of said envelope, in such manner that the resilient strength per unit of area upon its upper face is approximately as strong at the corner of said envelope 451 as the unit resilient strength at points located inwardly of the envelope edge. construction that the layer of cotton batting (or other padding disposed between said envelope and the cover) be relatively thin, inasmuch as in this case the cover itself is not resiliently distended by said auxiliary spring 251 but only the envelope 451 of said cushion is thus resiliently distended. It is obvious, however, that, where the expense is warranted, such an auxiliary spring 251 may be secured to the vertical wall of said envelope 451 and an additional auxiliary spring 25 secured to the corner seams of the cushion cover, thus not only resiliently supporting the rim of said envelope 451 (as per Fig. 8) so as to equalize the resilient strength above said envelope, but also distending the corners of the cushion cover (as per Figs. 1-5) so that said cover is distended irrespective of whether or not the cotton-batting padding between said cushion cover and main resilient body has any small amount of resilient strength or not. Obviously also in such a construction, the auxiliary spring casings 23 may in either or both instances be dispensed with.

My reason for illustrating and describing these various modifications is to indicate the fact that quite a varied number of spring arrangements may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention. In other words, although I have shown and described my invention in considerable detail, I do not wish to be limited to the exact and specific details shown and described here, but contemplate such substitutions, modifications or equivalents thereof as are embraced within the scope of my invention or are pointed out in the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A cushion comprising a flexible cover; a main resilient body arranged beneath said cover and resiliently supporting the same; a two layered fabric casing secured to said cover adjacent to and outside of said main resilient body and partially slit; and an auxiliary resilient body of such shape as to be capable of unsymmetrical flexing and arranged in said casing, and allowed'free flexing movement by reason of said slit in said casing.

2. A cushion comprising a main resilient body; a cover top Wall disposed over said main resilient body; a cover bottom wall disposed beneath said main resilient body; a flat auxiliary spring disposed alongside of and lying in a vertical plane parallel to the outer face of said main resilient body and connected at its upper end with the edge of said cover top wall; a cover side wall secured at its upper edge to the edge of said cover top wall and at its lower edge to the edge of said cover bottom wall; means connecting the lower end of said auxiliary spring with the lower part of said cover side wall; and a padding disposed between said auxiliary spring and said cover side wall.

CHARLES C. MEUTSCH.

It is preferred in such a Jill) 

